Unhappy New Year

Summary: In the mid 1800s Harriet Jacobs wrote the memoir Incidents in the life of a slave girl. She did so with the purpose of informing the women residing in the North about the daily conflicts and struggles faced by the women in the South. In an excerpt from her book titled, The Slaves' New Year's Day, Harriet Jacobs speaks of a process, unfamiliar to my knowledge, through which slaves are sold yearly to new owners.

In the mid 1800s Harriet Jacobs wrote the memoir Incidents in the life of a slave girl. She did so with the purpose of informing the women residing in the North about the daily conflicts and struggles faced by the women in the South. In an excerpt from her book titled, The Slaves' New Year's Day, Harriet Jacobs speaks of a process, unfamiliar to my knowledge, through which slaves are sold yearly to new owners. In other words, they are forced to leave their families behind. Jacobs speaks of the "peculiar sorrows" faced by slave mothers who helplessly watched their beloved children leave their sight.

"O, you happy free women, contrast your New Year's day with that of a poor bond-woman!" Indeed, while many of us women celebrate new years in the comfort and luxury of our homes with our families, it is unfair to forget the struggles...